


Shelter in the Storm

by SzonKlin



Series: Harry Potter [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animal Abuse, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, blink and you miss it mentions of, related to breeding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 07:04:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19102123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SzonKlin/pseuds/SzonKlin
Summary: A stormy night at Grimmauld Place.WARNING! This contains MAJOR SPOILERS  for the fic A Brush and A Comb and A Mirror and Blade by JET_Playin. Do yourself a favour and go read it, because it is a beautiful fic.





	Shelter in the Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Brush and A Comb and A Mirror and Blade](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17684540) by [JET_Playin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JET_Playin/pseuds/JET_Playin). 



> I've read A Brush and A Comb and A Mirror and Blade yesterday and I can't stop thinking about it, so here is a little oneshot I imagined for it.  
> All the thanks for JET_Playin for creating that beautiful story and for letting me play with it a little :)

I curled into a ball on my bed as the storm raged on outside. The only time I could remember hearing the storm this clearly was whenever Mother took me to get one of the items. In the relative safety of my basement I only ever heard muffled sounds of it.

But my new bedroom had a giant window that usually let so much light and air in was now rattling in its panes terrifyingly and the tree outside scratched against the glass as if someone was trying to claw their way in, or like the scampering of the rats that sometimes hid in my basement.

The room was dark, except when a lightning lit up the sky and the sharp filled the whole space. I used to be familiar with the darkness, having often spent days in a row without leaving my basement, but I haven’t slept in such compete darkness since a few days after moving into my new home.

At St. Mungo’s there was always a little light on to help the nurses when they checked on me during the night. Then when I came to live here, Harry quickly noticed the frequent nightmares I had. It was strange. The nightmares I had living with Mother were pretty tame compared to the ones I got in those first few months after getting away from her. I worried that Harry might think that I was unhappy with him, but he never told me off. He seemed to somehow understand so well what it was like to live in that basement. I didn’t know then about the cupboard that to him was so much like my basement; an awful place that still felt like a sanctuary because outside of it was so much worse.

He and my Mind Heeler both explained that it was perfectly natural that while a bad thing was happening, my mind would be too taken up with survival, and that, coupled with a numbness that came from frequently being Imperiused left little energy in my brain to conjure up vivid nightmares, and even if it could have, I usually only slept fitfully from the hunger and fear, or passed out from the exhaustion, neither state allowed me to get lost in the nightmares. But when I was finally safe and my mind could start to deal with the trauma and I slept deeply enough not to be woken easily by the first sign of a dream, the nightmares came.

Harry promised me that I could always come to him, even in the middle of the night, if I was woken by a bad dream, and he came to my room whenever he heard me cry, but about a week after I moved to Grimmauld, he realized that often when I woke, I was unable to move or even make a sound, paralyzed with the reminder of the helplessness under Mother’s Imperius. That’s when he started sending his Patronus to me. The giant stag walked in my room after he and Draco Malfoy left following a story and goodnight kisses and stayed till I woke in the morning, watching over my dreams, protecting me when I had a nightmare, reminding me that my life was infinitely better. It was our secret, no one knew, not even Draco Malfoy.

But that night there was no stag and no Harry, only the storm and my memories.

***

Draco was exhausted by the time he got home. They have been tracking an illegal pygmy puff breeding group for the last week and of course the last detail fell into place at 4 o’clock on a Friday. The case wasn’t terribly difficult, with all the forensics the sloppy breeders left behind, but the analysis of the dirt samples found at one of the stores they sold the puffs needed time to run and they couldn’t very well put off the raid till Monday morning. Luckily, the old couple that run the operation didn’t put up much of a fight once they realized they were surrounded.

Still, collecting all the evidence, even with the help of Amanda Clearwater, took hours. Well, perhaps it would have been quicker if Draco could have done it alone, seeing as Amanda only started as his intern a month ago and even though she was a quick study, she was still learning and Draco had to force himself to involve her, knowing it would be worth it I the long run.

The Harris case finally made the Ministry and Robards see what Draco has been trying to get them to understand for a year in vain, that forensics can really help a case, and they agreed to start build up a forensics division of the Auror Department. The project started with the hiring of Amanda as an intern and plans to start promoting the new carrier option at Hogwarts in the next term.

Amanda just competed her Potions Mastery that year, but she still wasn’t sure whether she wanted to pursue a carrier in that or become an Auror. The news somehow got to Draco and they started exchanging owls on the subject, so she was the first candidate that came to Draco’s mind when he was offered a chance to hire an intern. She was going to be a great help, but for the time being everything seemed to take twice as long as Draco had to explain everything to her.

As it was, it was almost midnight by the time he could go home, and Harry had to stay even longer, trying to get the location of their breeding facility from the Wilsons, who claimed they just wanted to bring fluffy happiness into the world, not at all being bothered by the suffering they brought to the puffs who were forced to live in cramped, dark enclosures, or to the dams by not giving them time to recover between litters.

He found Hermione awake, reading in the drawing room with little Rose sleeping in a stroller by her. Draco scolded her for not going to bed, then tried to get her to make use of one of the guest bedrooms, but she insisted that she wanted to go home.

Draco slowly made his way up the stairs, listening to the storm outside. There was something about the sound that always calmed him. The knowledge that despite the torrent outside he was safe within the walls of his home followed him through his childhood was shattered when the dangers within the walls of the Manor surpassed even the most violent storms, but in the past year when he realized it was up to him to provide that safety for Scorpius he regained it for himself as well.

He stopped briefly, listening at Alexi’s door, but there were no sounds from the boy. He debated for a moment whether he should go in, knowing Harry would have, but in the end, he decided against it. Ever since that night, when Draco thought Alexi was trying to hurt Scorpius, despite all the times Draco apologized or swore he didn’t blame Alexi, the boy was still a little wary around him. It broke Draco’s heart a little every time when the boy flinched away from him when he played with Scorpius and noticed Draco looking, but he knew that waking the boy up in the middle of the night wouldn’t help. Draco hoped that in time, when Alexi got older, he would get a chance to explain just how well he understood what it was like to be forced to do terrible things by someone who was meant to protect him, but until then he didn’t know what to do.

Part of him wanted to keep Alexi back from school at least for a year, to give him a chance to just be happy and carefree, but he knew that it would be better for him if he wasn’t kept from the world any longer, but he could start to live life as any other boy his age would. Being in the same year as Teddy would also help, even if they didn’t get sorted into the same house. Given how quickly the two boys have taken to each other despite the difference in their temperament seemed to prove that. With the quiet Alexi by his side, they would only have to worry half as much about Teddy getting into trouble, while the lively boy would make sure that his shy friend wouldn’t waste away in the shadows.

Wondering about the next year, and refusing to think about the time when he would have to let Scorpius go to Hogwarts, he moved on to his room. He checked on Scorpius, but the baby was sleeping peacefully, unbothered by the storm that sounded far away thanks to the special silencing charm that muffled the outside voices and only let sounds out of the room via a small mirror to ensure that Alexi wouldn’t be disturbed by Scorpius crying in the middle of the night, but they could still hear it even if neither Harry, nor Draco were in the room with the baby. After watching his son for a few moments, he went for a quick shower to wash of the dirt and weariness of the past few hours. By the time he was done with the shower he felt more than ready for bed, but something stopped him.

There was a quiet gasp from the bed as he opened the door to Alexi’s room and a second later a lightning illuminated the terrified face of the little boy, sat with his back against the headboard, clutching his blanket as a shield. Without thinking, Draco was at his side within seconds, crunching down by the bed and pulling Alexi into a hug. The boy was unmoving at first, but then he all but melted into Draco’s arms, finally letting out the sobs that were trapped inside for the last two hours.

They didn’t speak, just sat there, with Draco gently rocking the crying boy for who knows how long, until Scorpius’ fussing reached them through the mirror Draco dropped on the bed when he went to Alexi.

The boy quickly pulled back. “You can go now,” he whispered, but his voice was wet with tears.

“Come on,” Draco said as he stood up. “You can sleep in our room tonight if you want.” With eyes now accustomed to the dark, Draco saw Alexi look up at him uncertainly, contemplating his outstretched arm.

Scorpius continued to fuss, but a year of parenting taught Draco that it didn’t mean he had to rush to him, and a covert glance at Scorpius in the mirror assuaged what little worry he had. He remained unmoving, knowing that these moments mattered more to Alexi than to Scorpius. Finally, the boy reached a decision and took hold of Draco’s hand.

They walked back to the master bedroom hand in hand, then settled on the bed, Draco placing Scorpius between them.

***

The Sun was rising by the time Harry got home. The Wilsons refused to give up the location, and there was nothing more he could do till Monday, when the Minister could be petitioned to allow the use of Veritaserum.

He was knackered and upset, but that all flew out of his mind at the sight that greeted him upon entering the bedroom.

Draco was lying on his side, with an arm around Alexi, with Scorpius cocooned between them safely, Draco’s other hand tangled in Alexi’s chestnut curls, as he had probably fallen asleep stroking the troubled little head.

Harry laid down behind Alexi, putting an arm around his little family. The movement woke Draco, so Harry leant over the heads of his boys to place a gentle kiss on his fiancé’s lips. “Go back to sleep, love,” he whispered and watched with affection as Draco did just that so easily Harry doubted he was even really awake to begin with.

Despite how tired he was just minutes before, Harry laid there for a long time, staring at the three people two of whom he didn’t even know existed just two months ago, wondering how in only a few weeks, these three became his entire world and how much happiness they brought him. How, thanks to them, after a decade Grimmauld finally became a home, and their bed a shelter in the storm.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Leave a ❤ or comment if you think Alexi deserves a hug
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](szonklin.tumblr.com)
> 
> The breeding of Pygmy Puffs – much like cats and dogs – is a lucrative business, because most of the breeders don’t care about the animals’ health and wellbeing, so these little furballs are bred in ever-increasing numbers, but most of them end up abandoned on the streets or in shelters, because most buyers are only interested in the cutest, youngest, fluffiest ones. If you want a puff – or cat or dog – that will be your faithful companion, consider getting one from your local shelter instead of buying from a breeder. Find out more about helping Pygmy Puffs – and cats and dogs – at <http://www.adoptapygmypuff.com/>


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